Changes

By the end of 2000, a year and a half after the CCP launched the suppression of [[Falun Gong]], the campaign had failed to garner support among many of the CCP's rank and file. Then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin had toured southern provinces earlier in 2000 hoping to shore up more support for the campaign among local leaders. Meanwhile, public support for the campaign more broadly had waned. On January 23, 2001, five individuals allegedly set themselves on fire in [[Tiananmen Square]]. The entire scene was caught on camera from multiple angles. Beginning just hours after the event, state-controlled media was flooded with reports that the self-immolators were Falun Gong practitioners. These reports included grisly footage of the victims, portraying Falun Gong teachings as directly responsible for the tragedy.

By the end of 2000, a year and a half after the CCP launched the suppression of [[Falun Gong]], the campaign had failed to garner support among many of the CCP's rank and file. Then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin had toured southern provinces earlier in 2000 hoping to shore up more support for the campaign among local leaders. Meanwhile, public support for the campaign more broadly had waned. On January 23, 2001, five individuals allegedly set themselves on fire in [[Tiananmen Square]]. The entire scene was caught on camera from multiple angles. Beginning just hours after the event, state-controlled media was flooded with reports that the self-immolators were Falun Gong practitioners. These reports included grisly footage of the victims, portraying Falun Gong teachings as directly responsible for the tragedy.

In the weeks following the event, a wealth of evidence, including a ''[[Washington Post]]'' article finding that two of the self-immolators never practiced Falun Gong,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/02/04/human-fire-ignites-chinese-mystery/e27303e3-6117-4ec3-b6cf-58f03cdb4773/ |author=|title= Human Fire Ignites Chinese Mystery |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=4 February 2001|access-date=}}</ref> uncovered that the entire incident was staged. Other evidence surfaced by journalists and international observers indicated that CCP officials had advance knowledge of the self-immolation.  Yet, while people inside China had no access to this information, the Chinese state-run media continued a campaign to portray the "self-immolators" as Falun Gong "cultists."  People across China changed from respecting and sympathizing with Falun Gong to becoming infuriated with and attacking the practice. [[Hate crime]]s targeting Falun Gong practitioners increased and the CCP escalated its [[persecution]] with increased [[arrest]]s, [[torture]], killing, and [[forced organ harvesting]].<ref>https://en.minghui.org/cc/88/</ref>

In the weeks following the event, a wealth of evidence, including a ''[[Washington Post]]'' article finding that two of the self-immolators had never practiced Falun Gong,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2001/02/04/human-fire-ignites-chinese-mystery/e27303e3-6117-4ec3-b6cf-58f03cdb4773/ |author=|title= Human Fire Ignites Chinese Mystery |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=4 February 2001|access-date=}}</ref> uncovered that the entire incident was staged. Other evidence surfaced by journalists and international observers indicated that CCP officials had advance knowledge of the self-immolation.  Yet, while people inside China had no access to this information, the Chinese state-run media continued a campaign to portray the "self-immolators" as Falun Gong "cultists."  People across China changed from respecting and sympathizing with Falun Gong to becoming infuriated with and attacking the practice. [[Hate crime]]s targeting Falun Gong practitioners increased and the CCP escalated its [[persecution]] with increased [[arrest]]s, [[torture]], killing, and [[forced organ harvesting]].<ref>https://en.minghui.org/cc/88/</ref>

==Genocide==

==Genocide==